Lent
March 12, 2017
Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. –John 3:16-17
John 3:16 was probably the first verse I memorized. We did a lot of memorization when I was a child. Of course, my memory work was from the King James version of the Bible. To this day, I have trouble reading the 23rd Psalm from another version stumbling over what seem to be misplaced words. I grew up in the heyday of individual salvation, the need to publicly profess my belief in Jesus as the Christ the son of God and win other souls to Christ. I readily accepted him as my personal savior following the example of my parents, siblings, and neighbors. I meant it then and still believe in the constancy of God’s love as manifested in Jesus Christ. I was schooled in a tradition that recognized that accepting God’s love and returning it should be professed not only in words but by deeds. What Paul refers to as works. It was not until adulthood that I began to understand that Christ had a much broader vision for his work. Funny, it is right there in the next verse. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Or as Russell Westbrook says, it really does not matter to me how many triple doubles I get, what matters is winning the game. It takes a whole team to win a game and it takes a whole team to foster love throughout the world.
While there is nothing more valuable to me than my personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, it is as important that you and I are part of the team Jesus started building with the first disciples and continues to develop toward the creation of the Kingdom of God in our world today. I believe that Kingdom has two primary objectives, to Love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves including those who were once strangers that we accept as our neighbors. Eternity began with Jesus Christ.
Prayer: thank you Lord for your saving love that made us whole and continues to return us to wholeness when we forget to love ourselves as you love us. We accept your challenge to build a world based on love and ask your guidance in making it a reality. Amen.